Report on the workshop: preservation policies and long-term collections management Halle, 29-30 september 2011

Posted: 29-09-2011 Topics: Cultural Heritage

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The LIBER Steering Committee on Heritage Collections and Preservation, in collaboration with the British Library and the National Library of the Netherlands, organised a workshop on Preservation Policies and Long-term Collections Management. The workshop was hosted by the Saxony-Anhalt State and University Library at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, on 29-30 September 2011.In the workshop the use of preservation policies as frameworks to benefit long-term collections management has been discussed.

The topics and objectives of the workshop were:

  • To exchange information on the current strategic context in which preservation activities take place
  • To share perspectives on future directions for preservation management
  • To foster collaboration between preservation policy makers in European libraries, including those based in Central and Eastern Europe

Thursday september 29th, a tour was held at the Halle University Library

The next day, Deborah Novotny and Tanja de Boer, both head of collection care at respectively the British Library and the National Library of the Netherlands, gave an insight into preservation policies at their respective libraries.

Deborah Novotny spoke about the following subjects:

Current strategic challenges for libraries: the preservation perspective

– Hybrid (physical and digital) collections

– Changes in future patterns of collecting

– The future role of print collections and how preservation supports use

– Integrating physical and digital preservation policies

The role of preservation management in achieving institutional objectives

– The role and scope of a preservation policy

– How a policy provides a framework for thinking

– How preservation policies relate to other aspects of collections management and institutional policy

– Why a preservation policy is of value now (contribution to addressing strategic challenges identified in first session)

Tanja de boer discussed the following:

Integrated collection care for digital and physical collections

– Integrated collection care for digital and physical collections

– Classification of collections into homogenous lots

– Based on a statement of significance: qualified and quantified valuation

– Indication of risks that impact specific collection values

– Development of preservation- and conservation levels

– Care redirected from the most ‘valuable collections’ to those where the highest risks for specific values are indicated.

An impression of the workshop in Halle: Some pictures and the presentation of Tanja de Boer.

Halle

Tour of Halle University Library

Deborah Novotny, Head of Collection Care, The British Library

 

Tanja de Boer. Head of Collection Care, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The National Library of the Netherlands

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Participants of the Halle workshop